2018

November

Plans to launch a ride hailing service in the Chinese city of Chengdu. (Reuters)

Has made one million components using additive manufacturing techniques in the last ten years and plans on making 200,000 in 2018. For instance, guide rails for the i8 Roadster are manufactured using an HP Multi Jet Fusion machining rather than mass manufacture, but it isn’t quick -- 100 parts in 24 hours. (BMW)

Started selling battery packs and electric motors to Turkish bus maker Karsan, who will use them to make a small bus for urban use. BMW also supply Deutsche Post’s StreetScooter with batteries. (BMW)

When asked about the possibility of more cooperation with other industry players, BMW executives stressed the difficulty in coordinating timing of new products so that all participating companies benefitted from them at similar times. They were happier to share mobility services. (Seeking Alpha)

Already planning the localisation of a further product in China after X2, but didn’t say which. (Seeking Alpha)

The EU approved the merger of BMW and Daimler’s car sharing assets, subject to measures to protect competition in six cities. (Reuters)

October

Will produce battery packs for the electric Mini at the Dingolfing, Germany plant. (BMW)

Increased the size of a recall linked to diesel cars with EGR problems to cover 1.6 million vehicles. (BMW)

Announced that software firms KPIT and TTTech would join its self-driving platform with the specific aim of developing tailored solutions for third parties. (BMW)

BMW might bid for its own 5G spectrum in Germany, rather than relying on the mobile phone companies to provide the infrastructure the company believes it needs. (Handelsblatt)

Created a joint venture with Northvolt and Umicore to improve recycling of used electric car batteries. (BMW)

Confirmed plans to take a majority share of its Chinese joint venture with Brilliance. Under a new agreement that extends to 2040, BMW will see its stake rise to 75%, local production capacity will rise to 650,000 units annually and the two partners will invest €3 billion “in the coming years”. (BMW)

Sold 1,834,810 units globally in Q3 2018, a 1.3% increase on a year earlier. (BMW)

BMW’s greater joint venture share will cost the company €3.6 billion and the deal will close in 2022. (Reuters)

Concluded the formation of its 51% software joint venture with Critical Software based in Portugal. (BMW)

Sold 1,834,810 units globally in Q3 2018, a 1.3% increase on a year earlier. (BMW)

Announced a profit warning, primarily blaming, extra incentives in Europe from competitors who were pushing cars into the marketplace ahead of the WLTP cut-off; volatile international trade tariffs; and adjustments to goodwill and warranty reserves. (BMW)

September

BMW’s German dealers threatened to not sign revised five-year contracts with the brand, jeopardising sales in October as the situation could theoretically result in a sales stoppage. They relented at the last minute. (Reuters)

Announced the UK Mini plant’s annual shutdown will take place on 1st April (just after Brexit is supposed to take force) rather than during summer so that the plant will be closed in the event of any implementation chaos. (Reuters)

The EU launched a formal investigation into whether BMW, Daimler and VW colluded to restrict competition in emissions technology. (Economic Times of India)

BMW’s development chief said the brand’s cars will always have steering wheels and the change to autonomy will take three decades, starting from 2005, meaning a 20 year wait “until this applies to all parts of the world”. (Autocar)

Published the technical specifications for the new Z4, having earlier unveiled the new car’s design. (BMW)

Unveiled the iNext, which has morphed from a coupe-like saloon to an SUV. BMW appears to be still undecided on how the car interior should change when the vehicle is in autonomous mode with the steering wheel of the concept retracting “slightly” (in the original demonstrator, the wheel folded away entirely). (BMW)

Withdrew all diesel variants from sale in the US, although some cars remain in dealer stock. (Yahoo)

Demonstrated an autonomous motorbike, but unlike competitor projects, BMW does not seem to have tackled the problem of stabilisation, so the vehicle is just as likely to tip over as any other. In BMW’s own words, “at first sight, the autonomous motorbike seems to no real sense”. They say the technology could in future become an active safety system. (BMW)

Working with insurer Swiss Re to use vehicle data to derive a tailored insurance policy for individual owners. (BMW)

Said there were “headwinds” and that several major markets were “highly competitive”, calling out the USA and European markets. (BMW)

BMW’s development chief said OEMs without a cost advantage in electric vehicles will not survive. (Reuters)

Investing €100 million to build a driving simulation centre that will commence operations in 2020. BMW touts the planned 14 simulators and labs as a significant benefit in developing autonomous vehicles. (BMW)

Will launch a proprietary voice controlled digital assistant in vehicles, starting next year. BMW says the system will be able to interact with third party services such as Alexa (BMW has already created an Alexa skill) and Siri. The BMW system will let users choose their own name -- BMW suggests Charlie or Joy as options to be considered. All cars with BMW OS 7.0 and greater will be capable of using the system. (BMW)

August

South Korean police raided BMW’s headquarters in the country as part of an investigation into engine fires that have been the subject of a massive recall. (Economic Times of India)

Will unveil the iNext by taking journalists inside a specially equipped cargo aeroplane, showing them the car and then flying off into the sunset. (BMW)

Requested planning permission for an extension at the Swindon pressings site that supports BMW’s UK Mini plant. BMW requested a five year consent before implementation has to take place, rather than the usual three years to provide “flexibility on the potential for investment”. (Insider Media)Unveiled the new Z4 roadster. (BMW)

South Korean regulators told owners of around 20,000 BMWs to stop driving them until the company had completed a recall action on them to address the risk of engine fires. (Reuters)

After a spate of engine fires in South Korea, BMW recalled European vehicles with diesel engines and EGR to inspect for EGR coolant leakages. Media reports put the number of affected vehicles at 324,000. (BMW)

Executives said that BMW test drives of autonomous cars often last 1,000 km, with an average of three driver interventions, and also expressed scepticism that fully autonomous driving will be allowed on public roads. (Autocar)

Reportedly won’t replace the 3 Series GT model at the end of the current cycle. (BMW Blog)

July

Building a new plant in Hungary near the town of Debrecen. BMW say the plant will have capacity for 150,000 units per year and employ 1,000 staff. Total investment could come to €1 billion. (BMW)

Has hedging in place for 100% of 2018 currency exposures and 50% of 2019 levels. (Seeking Alpha)

Confirmed that it is raising the prices of some US-manufactured models in China to partially recover recently announced tariff increases. (Reuters)

Launched a new version of the ReachNow service in Seattle which offers both car rental and ride hailing. (Wired)

Showed off a new non-destructive structural analysis system using X Ray scanners mounted on robots. (BMW)

Working towards majority ownership of its Chinese joint venture with Brilliance. (Der Spiegel)

Re-affirmed plans to increase production in South Carolina, USA, despite capacity increases in China. (KVEO)

Joined Baidu’s Project Apollo, securing a board seat. The two companies had dissolved an earlier partnership. (BMW)

Q2 2018 Earnings

Reported automotive revenue of €22.2 billion in Q2 2018, about level with the prior year. Group PBT of €2.9 billion was down (6)% on a year earlier. (BMW)

Sold 1,242,507 vehicles in the first six months, up 1.8% on the same period in 2017. (BMW)

June

Rolls-Royce’s CEO says its line-up is now complete and there will not be a smaller SUV below Cullinan. (Autocar)

Said it was committed to its UK sites and workforce, whatever the outcome of Brexit. (Business Insider)

Executives said that BMW currently had a disengagement rate in testing of approximately three times every 1,000 kilometres. This can potentially be compared with Waymo’s publicly recorded rate of around once per 9,000 km in California but it is unclear whether the testing conditions are similar. (Auto Express)

Signed a contract worth €1 billion with CATL to provide batteries from a new European plant. (Reuters)

Formed a JV with Critical Software to work on projects ranging from in-car infotainment to automated sales. (BMW)

Working with TTTech Auto to improve the quality and security of software for autonomous vehicles. (TTTech)

BMW celebrated their CEO being voted the most popular manager in Germany with a Q&A about his management style. (BMW)

Said that clarity on post-Brexit trading conditions were required by the end of the summer, otherwise it would have to start making contingency plans. (Economic Times of India)

Said that Magna will produce the new Z4, starting in late 2018. (Magna)

BMW headquarters was evacuated for a bomb alert. After a robot had carried out a controlled explosion, investigators determined that it was an alarm clock designed to look like sticks of dynamite. (SZ)

May

Investing €300 million in its Liepzig, Germany, plant to increase annual capacity from 250,000 units to 300,000 units, as a part of the change, volumes of i3 and i8 models will rise from 130 units per day to 200 units per day. (BMW)

Opened a new R&D centre in Beijing, China, with space for 200 personnel. (BMW)

Became the first non-Chinese auto maker to receive an on-road autonomous vehicle testing permit in China. (BMW)

Showed an outline sketch of the iNext vehicle, due in 2021 as an all-electric car with autonomous capability. BMW said a concept version would be presented later in the year. The outline implies a shooting brake or aggressively styled SUV. (BMW)

Rolls-Royce’s CEO said the new architecture underpinning Cullinan, but to be shared with other future models, is “ready for electrification and other changes as well”. (Autocar)

Working on an electrification strategy that will involve three sizes of pack: 30e (60 kWh), 40e (90 kWh) and 50e (120 kWh) and two sizes of cell (one for cars and a taller one for SUVs). (Automotive News)

Car sharing subsidiary ReachNow will end its free-floating service in Brooklyn, New York, citing high maintenance and damage costs. The company will continue the business model elsewhere, indicating ReachNow views the problems as location-specific. (GeekWire)

Extended an existing recall in the UK after journalists revealed the problems were more prevalent than BMW had said. The number of affected vehicles rose from 36,410 to 312,000. (BBC)

Said that Minis produced in India have 50% local content and the company may start selling BMW PHEVs in the country if it can identify the right product. (Autocar)

BMW developed an electric scooter that it might supply to third parties if it finds sufficient demand. (Autocar)

April

Showed the iX3 concept in Beijing and said the vehicle will be produced in China. (BMW)

Investing €10 million in a new research centre for additive manufacturing technologies. (BMW)

Held an event to demonstrate the company’s emerging technologies and talked about its D-ACES strategy (design augments the now ubiquitous autonomous, connected, electrified and services elements). (BMW)

Said that it does not “exclude other partners” from the mobility joint venture with Daimler. (Manager Magazin)

BMW iVentures invested in high resolution labelled map company Mapillary, citing the need for an “independent provider of street-level imagery”. (VentureBeat)

Announced pricing for the monthly subscription scheme it is piloting in the USA. Prices start at $2,000 per month for lower end vehicles, with $3,700 for the highest performance derivatives. (Bloomberg)

Q1 2018 Earnings

Released financial results for Q1 2018. PBT of €3.165 billion was slightly down on Q1 2017, revenue of €22.7 billion was down (5.2)%. (BMW)

Sold 604,629 vehicles in Q1 2018, an increase of 3% on the prior year. Europe was up 1%, most of the growth came from Asia and the Americas. (BMW)

March

Officially announced the merger of BMW and Daimler’s mobility operations into a new company, with both holding a 50% share. Services will cover multimodal; car sharing; ride hailing; parking and charging. However, a number of investments by both companies into these areas were not mentioned by name so it appears as though both will continue to invest in start-ups that interest them. (BMW)

Customers are reportedly availability problems for plug-in hybrids with the introduction of WLTP test procedures being blamed. (Honest John)

Reportedly planning a trial subscription service called Access by BMW in the USA. (Bloomberg)

BMW’s Parkmobile said its app can now identify free parking spaces, for a $0.99 monthly fee. (Parkmobile)

Released the 2017 annual report and outlook for 2018, warning that it would have to make substantial investments in new technologies but still hoped to have profit before tax in line with 2017. (BMW)

BMW iVentures led an investment round in lidar maker Blackmore, with Toyota also participating. (Blackmore)

The long-rumoured mobility asset pooling between BMW and Daimler could have a larger scope than previously anticipated and could include Daimler’s stake in ride hailing firm mytaxi. (Manager Magazin)

May suspend production of petrol powered X5, X6, 6 Series and 7 Series vehicles in Europe from middle of 2018 into 2019 so the company can comply with RDE, hybrids are not affected. (Manager Magazin)

Does not want to “scale up” with the (recently launched) fourth generation of BEVs and will wait for the fifth generation (due in around 2020) because it will deliver a “two digit” percentage cost reduction in costs. (Reuters)

Confirmed that it will build the iVision Dynamics concept vehicle, badging it as the i4. (BMW)

Interested in creating motorcycle sharing schemes in city centres but is currently mulling over how to ensure that customers could share adequately-fitting helmets. (Bloomberg)

Invested in May Mobility, a maker of autonomous buses, alongside Toyota. (Toyota)

Will launch digital key technology in July that allows an owner to share a vehicle with five others using a smartphone app rather than having to share the physical key. (Europa Press)

February

As previously rumoured, BMW has been in talks with Great Wall about a joint venture to produce electric Minis in China and has now signed a letter of intent. (BMW)

Ended production of the 3 Series in its Rosslyn, South Africa, factory. The plant is switching to X3 SUVs. (BMW)

The redistribution of the Quandt family’s controlling shareholding has been finalised. It does not affect board positions or the free float of shares. (Manager Magazin)

Moovit raised an additional $50 million from various sources including BMW iVentures and Intel. (FINSMES)

Invested in Fair.com -- the recent acquirers of Uber’s leasing business. At the same time, Fair purchased Skurt, a fleet management company BMW had previously invested in. (FINSMES)

Long-rumoured talks for Hyundai to join BMW’s self-driving alliance are reportedly in the final stages. (Handelsblatt)

Acquired full control of car sharing brand DriveNow, buying out Sixt. (BMW)

Reportedly suspending production of M550i in Europe because BMW hasn’t managed to make technical changes to the vehicle necessary to comply with WLTP-based emissions measuring. (BMW Blog)

January

Executives speaking off the record said the long-awaited deal for BMW and Daimler to merge their car sharing units may reach a final agreement next month. The companies will reportedly continue to operate separate brands, pooling technology and back office functions -- BMW’s parking assets will also be part of the agreement. (Reuters)

Said that the iNext BEV (launching in 2021) will have up to 435 miles of range and the iVision Dynamics (launching in late 2021/early 2022) will have a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h. (BMW)

CEO said BMW and will outsell Mercedes and regain top premium brand status by 2020. (Manager Magazin)

Acquired Parkmobile, in which it already had a stake, a leading provider of B2C parking services. Is Parkopedia next on BMW’s list? (BMW)

Will begin charging for Apple CarPlay in the US on an annual basis rather than an upfront payment. (The Verge)

Following on from other raw materials, BMW and Codelco will create a transparent copper supply chain. (BMW)

BMW’s Alphabet leasing subsidiary has created a contract hire offering in partnership with Deutsche Post’s StreetScooter to provides financing and maintenance packages for 3rd party customers. (Golem)

2017

Said 2017 full year sales for BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce totalled 2,463,526 cars, up 4.1% on 2016. (BMW)

December

Mini will launch a range of home fit personalisation options, manufactured using rapid prototyping techniques. The components are specified online; manufactured by BMW in Germany and then shipped to the customer. (Autocar)

Partnered with Solid Power to develop solid state batteries for a future electric vehicle platform. (Solid Power)

Expect the cut in US tax rates to increase net income by between €0.95 billion - €1.55 billion. (BMW)

Said it will build a new proving ground in the Czech Republic at Sokolov, close to the German border. (BMW)

Rolls-Royce’s CEO said that the Phantom will likely have an all-electric version (definitely no hybrid) but at the moment there is no demand from customers for such a model. (Autocar)

Denied claims by an environmental group that it had fitted defeat devices on diesel vehicles sold in Germany. The group said that it had tested vehicles on and off static tests and found discrepancies. (Economic Times of India)

Presented a strategy update. Although most of the targets, especially around longer term product are already in the public domain, there were some new slides explaining the company’s view on topics such as electrification and autonomy. (BMW)

When presenting the company’s strategy update, BMW’s CEO drew attention to the company having trademarked i1 to i9 and iX1 to iX9. He also said that the i3 has conquest rates in excess of 80 percent. (BMW)

BMW’s R&D head said that the company was better than all competition in technical competence and value creation around electrical powertrain and that it would always develop e-drives, power electronics and battery systems in-house, but could use make-to-print outsourcing. He illustrated the data challenge from autonomous vehicles saying that currently BMW’s entire storage requirement was 60 PB, but autonomous vehicles will increase this to 500 PB. On autonomous capability he was bullish saying vehicles would “fully master level 5 right from the outset in 2021” and mentioned access to free real-time HD maps as a key enabler that BMW has worked on delivering. (BMW)

November

Launched an upgraded powerpack for the i8 whilst unveiling the roadster derivative. Battery capacity increases from 7.1 kWh to 11.7 kWh and the power of the electric motor now has an output of 141hp. (Green Car Reports)

Launched car sharing in China under the ReachNow brand (same as US) in partnership with Chinese car sharing operator EVCARD. The starting location is Chengdu and will only use all-electric vehicles. (BMW)

Halted production of i3 and issued a recall in the US due to concerns around seat belts. (Green Car Reports)

Open to sharing electrification technology on small cars with other manufacturers. (Times of India)

Said the price of an autonomous car (based on the iNext concept) could be below $100,000 in 2020. (Times of India)

Published a vision for two-wheeled emission free transport in future cities involving elevated roads reserved for such vehicles. (BMW)

Sensing an opportunity in a French regulation that says large companies and towns must provide comprehensive mobility plans; Alphabet, BMW’s wholly-owned leasing company and a select group of partners are offering an out-of-the-box multi-modal package that includes car-sharing, bicycle-sharing and asset financing. (Journal Auto)

Pledged that as of 2020, all its global electricity needs will be met from renewable energy, up from 63% today. (BMW)

Recalling about 1 million vehicles in the US to correct problems with the wiring. (BBC)

Q3 Earnings

Reported financial results for Q3 2017. Automotive revenue of €21.04 billion was down (2.4)% on a year-over-year basis, despite a 1.2% increase in volume to 590,415 vehicles sold. Group PBT of €2.4billion was down (5.9)% YoY. (BMW)

Despite Q3 earnings being lower than the prior year, BMW said it was in good shape on a year to date basis and increased its forecast for full year results. (BMW)

Announced Q3 2017 sales of 590,403 units, up 1.2% on a year over year basis. Increases in Asia more than offset losses in other markets. (BMW)

October

Opened a new stationary storage facility at its Leipzig plant using second-life i3 batteries. The plant has capacity for 700 batteries (it uses some new batteries because so few used vehicle batteries have been available) and is connected to the public grid. The facility is modular and can be expanded in future. BMW said that this demonstrated profitable second-life usage. (BMW)

Said that, due to environmental and ethical concerns over the sourcing of cobalt used in high voltage electric vehicle batteries, it was working to publish details of its cobalt supply chain and had engaged an independent party to help raise standards. (BMW)

Had offices raided by EU officials investigation an alleged cartel between Daimler, BMW and VW. Daimler claimed publicly that it had whistle-blower status and was therefore expected not to be fined. (Reuters)

Mini’s chief designer hinted that the company was looking to expand the range in future beyond the current 5 bodystyles. (Autocar)

In talks with Chinese manufacturer Great Wall over a potential joint venture to assemble Mini brand vehicles in the country. (Reuters)

Magna has joined the BMW-led self-driving car platform. Magna’s role appears similar to that of Delphi and Continental since it will act as a non-exclusive integrator and offer the technology to other companies. (Magna)

Reportedly looking for a site for a new plant in Russia, with Kaliningrad the current frontrunner. (Der Spiegel)

A senior executive said that BMW wants one more automaker to join it and FCA in its collaboration. Three OEMs is seen as the right level to share costs without slowing decision making too much. (Automotive News)

September

Said that from mid-2018, all BMW and Mini vehicles would feature Amazon Alexa. At the moment, BMW vehicles do have Alexa but capability is limited to information about vehicle diagnostics. (BMW)

Reportedly planning to release a wireless charging pad that can be placed in a customer’s garage and will have a 3.2kW rating. Previous examples have suffered from being extremely sensitive to vehicle position over the pad so it remains to be seen whether BMW have conquered this problem. (Futurism)

Confirmed the production location of the new 8-series (from 2018) and the autonomous iNext (from 2021) as Dingolfing, Germany. (Economic Times of India)

Rumoured to be planning an upgrade for the i3 BEV that will see a 42.5 kWh battery pack offered from late 2018 onwards -- which would give about 250km of real-world range. (BMW Blog)

Showed an all-electric 4 door grand touring coupe with a 600km range, promising that it would go into production. (BMW)

BMW’s head of purchasing said that company was “extremely concerned that the Brexit talks have been so piecemeal and slow so far”. (Bloomberg)

Under a court ruling, BMW’s Leipzig plant will receive less state aid than it had been hoping for, €17 million instead of €45 million. The case had been pending since 2014. BMW can appeal to the ECJ for a final ruling. (Der Speigel)

BMW’s CEO said in his pre-IAA show remarks that the company intended to have 12 all-electric vehicles by 2025 (in addition to 13 other “electrified”, thought to mean PHEV, products) and that in future the company would be able to equip every model with any type of drivetrain. At the Frankfurt show, BMW will unveil an all-electric 4 door product that could sit between i3 and i8. (BMW)

Unveiled a series of nearly production-ready concepts for its new car family with the X7 large SUV (BMW) and 8-series large coupe joining the 7-series saloon in the line-up. In addition to showing off the cars, BMW mentioned a mobility “add-on” that would allow owners of one of the vehicles to easy rent one of the others. (BMW)

August

Issued a press release detailing some of the ways in which new technology has been incorporated into the company’s production process. Although some of the techniques described, such as a feedback loop between blanks and press tools, news that BMW conducts analysis of bolt rundown measurements and installs vibration sensors on machinery won’t be troubling competitor analysis teams at other OEMs. (BMW)

Showed the design of the Mini E electric car ahead of the full unveiling at Frankfurt. (BBC)

Unveiled the new M5 sports saloon by including it in a new computer game “Need for Speed Payback” rather than a conventional product presentation. (BMW)

FCA signed an MoU with the intention of joining the BMW-led consortium developing an autonomous driving platform. As part of the agreement, it is envisaged that FCA will contribute engineering resource, to be located alongside the other partners in Germany. (BMW)

Offered UK drivers a £2,000 trade-in bonus on older diesel vehicles, similar to the one in Germany and surely not simply an increase in variable marketing spending. Other countries will get the incentives too. (Autocar)

Following the German diesel summit, BMW called for “objective discussions based on facts and scientific evidence”, it also launched a €2k additional trade-in “environmental bonus” for owners of E4 and earlier diesel vehicles. (BMW)

BMW’s CEO called on non-German carmakers to contribute a €500 million fund set up by German carmakers and the government as a result of the diesel summit. (Reuters)

Saw BMW’s partner in its carbon fibre joint venture, SGL Group, speculate that it might buy the automaker out of its stake in the company. (Reuters)

Q2 Earnings

Reported Q2 2017 financial results. Automotive revenue of €49.25 billion was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Automotive EBIT of €2.24 billion was up 2.8%. (BMW)

Announced June sales figures. The 232,620 vehicles sold by the group represented a 2.1% year-over-year increase. (More…)

July

Confirmed that it would produce the electric version of the Mini in Oxford. The powertrain will come from plants in Germany. BMW said that it received no assurances from the UK Government about the impact of Brexit before making the decision. (BMW)

Was allegedly part of a cartel of German car makers under investigation by the EU for possible collusion on technical regulations and component sourcing for items such as retractable roofs and emission control systems. The other participants were Daimler and VW Group (Audi, Porsche and VW). According to media reports, Daimler and VW may have partial immunity or relief from fines after coming forward as whistle-blowers. BMW appears more exposed. (More…). After the allegations first emerged, BMW rejected wrongdoing and said that the talks between the car companies had been to support infrastructure rather than to act anti-competitively. (..)

BMW took part in a $38 million funding round for online used car sales company Shift. (More…)

Took part in the $159 million series C financing of autonomous vehicle technology company Nauto, alongside GM and Toyota. BMW was already an investor. (More…)

Saw media speculation that BMW would prefer to build the electric Mini in its Oxford, UK plant but are seeking government assurances around tariff levels and relief treatment before committing. (More…)

Announced that the head of sales (Ian Robertson) would be retiring with Pieter Nota taking on his responsibilities. (More…)

BMW i Ventures has made an investment in Caroobi, an online platform that uses independent repair garages to offer servicing in a variety of locations across Germany, Switzerland and Austria with haggle-free pricing. (More…)

Announced that it will become an official manufacturer in the Formula E racing series (open wheel, electric power only), partnered with the Andretti team. (More…)

Reached agreement on pensions for UK staff, ending a series of strikes. Staff agreed (with 81.5% in favour) to the closure of the company’s defined benefits scheme for existing contributors (new hires are already in a defined contribution scheme). The union has extracted higher transition payments (£22,000 over a series of years) than the company originally offered. The DC scheme has an employer contribution of 16%. (More…)

Has set itself a target of saving €1 billion in indirect production costs by 2019. BMW’s current indirect purchasing bill is around €20 billion. (More…)

Said that the stoppage a few weeks ago caused by a Bosch supplier had affected delivery of around 8,000 vehicles. (More…)

Will use Inrix as a provider of parking space information in 5 series vehicles. (More…)

BMW’s CEO visited the Spartanburg, US plant for the launch of the new X3. In a speech he stressed BMW’s contribution to the US economy and said that a further $600 million would be invested between now and 2021 to make new SUVs. (..)

BMW’s board member for sales said that the company was yet to decide where to build a forthcoming all-electric Mini. The plants in contention are Oxford (UK), NedCar (Netherlands), Leipzig and Regensburg (both in Germany). He said that the decision will be made in September. It is probably no coincidence that these remarks were made whilst BMW is in dispute with UK unions over pension terms. (More…)

BMW’s CFO said that one of the ways the company could afford increased R&D spending was by reducing complexity. Amongst potential measures he mentioned reducing the size of the diesel portfolio. (More…)

BMW remained silent on rumours that it will show an electric 3 series at the Frankfurt motor show (reportedly sporting a 400 km range). (More…)

Agreed with (German region) Bavaria’s government to improve the emissions of Stage 5 diesel cars through the use of new engine management software. This could be a template for agreement at a national level. (More…)

Released a report covering the learnings from its ChargeForward V2G charging experiment run with US utility PG&E. The report reveals how BMW split battery capacity between a stationery storage facility and parked vehicles and the extent to which they helped manage grid load (about 80% stationery / 20% vehicle in practice). Part of the learning was the time from experiment inception to final reporting -- 4 years in this case. (More…)

Said that current government policy in India does not support take-up of all-electric vehicles as well as it could. (More…)

Announced that the 5 series PHEV will be produced by Magna in Austria under a contract manufacture agreement (More…)

Continental were announced as a member of the BMW / Mobileye / Intel development partnership as a “system integrator”, a similar role to Delphi’s. Continental’s press release did not mention Delphi at all. (More…). Delphi’s earlier press release had noted that its agreement was non-exclusive. (More…)

Will increase the size of its Strasbourg parts depot by almost half. It isn’t clear if this will lead to an increase in employment at the facility which currently has around 150 staff. (More…)

UK workers rejected BMW’s latest offer in an ongoing dispute over a new pension structure. The Unite union had suspended strike action whilst the ballot went ahead. (..)

Released sales figures for May. 208,447 vehicles were delivered, an increase of 5.1% year-over-year. (More…)

Announced that IBM has signed up to BMW’s CarData program. This will allow vehicle data to be assessed with IBM’s Watson AI. (More…)

Announced that it was making an investment in Proterra, a US manufacturer of heavy-duty electric vehicles for mass transport. (More…)

Announced the ground-breaking for their new plant in Mexico. The plant is scheduled to commence production of 3 Series vehicles in 2019. (More…)

May

Issued more details of its driverless vehicle program. The company listed Level 3 and Level 4 “with technical provisos” as being offered in 2021. (..)

Announced a new service called CarData that provides a platform for owners to share vehicle data with 3rd For instance, it can be used to supply data for tailored insurance premiums. (More...)

Had to reduce production in Munich, Leipzig and Shenyang because of parts supply problems from Bosch. The loss was put at “several thousand” vehicles and BMW said it would seek compensation. Bosch are now intending to purchase the supplier in question. (..)

There was renewed talk of a merger between car sharing companies DriveNow (BMW) and Car2Go (Daimler). The latest stories have a merger taking place in Q3 2017 and a new brand being established. Rumours of a tie up have circulated since December 2016. BMW’s partner in DriveNow, Sixt, has been openly opposed to the move but BMW reportedly now believes that it can convince Sixt to cooperate. (..)

Issued a press release trumpeting its place as the third most popular employer, and most popular carmaker, for young German IT professionals. (..)

Will recall over 45,000 2005 to 2008 year 7-series vehicles in the USA to fix faults with door latches. (..)

Announced that Delphi has joined the self-driving alliance BMW created with Intel and Mobileye. Delphi will act as the system integrator and seemed a logical choice given the existing cooperation it has with Mobileye. (..)

UK media reported on CEO Harald Kruger’s comments that the Mini plant in Oxford could be negatively affected by Brexit, saying the BMW was planning “in terms of scenarios” and “was flexible” on the source of Minis. (..)

Settled a US class action case relating to failure of airbags supplied by Takata. The overall bill was $553 million of which BMW’s share was $131 million. (..)

Warned investors that R&D spending will increase to about 6% of sales in 2017 and 2018 due to extra investment in CO2 reduction technologies and electric vehicles. (..)

Said that it had record sales in April of 192,494, an increase of 7.4% year-over-year. Sales of electrified vehicles rose 82.7% YoY to over 25,000 units. The Chinese market was the main driver of growth. (..)

Announced an agreement with the City of Hamburg to form a strategic partnership concerning urban mobility. As a part of this, the Hamburg fleet of DriveNow vehicles will expand to 550 cars by 2019 (400 pure electric, 150 PHEV) and the city will provide 1,150 charging points. (..)

Media reported that BMW was planning to raise production capacity to 3 million units by 2020. (..)

Said that it has not made any changes to its plans for production in Mexico. (..)

CEO Harald Krüger called sustainability “a marathon” in his introductory comments to the AGM. He also said that sustainable mobility “thrives wherever there is a combination of three factors: customer, legislation and industrialisation”. He also promised small-scale fuel cell vehicle production in 2021. (..)

Q1 Earnings

Announced via an ad-hoc release that Q1 2017 profit before tax (€3.005 billion) and revenues were above market expectations. The ad-hoc release was made ahead of scheduled reporting due to German financial reporting rules. Daimler and VW also had financial results in Q1 2017 that were significantly better than expected. (..)

Reported Q1 2017 detailed financial results. Unit deliveries were 587,237 units, up 5.3% year-over-year. Group revenue of €23.5 billion was up 12.4% YoY. Group profit before tax of €3.0 billion was up almost 27% YoY, largely due to the gain on sale and revaluation of BMW’s HERE stake and increased profits in China. (..)

April

Said that its plant in Dingolfing would produce the BMW iNEXT from 2021 and said that it was working on manufacturing processes that would allow ICE-only, hybrid and full-BEV products to be built on the same facilities. BMW re-iterated that it expects 15% - 25% of its sales to be from electrified vehicles by 2025 (this figure includes hybrid and full BEVs) (..)

Saw media reporting on its efforts at culture change. BMW is running a program that attempts to convince employees that electrification and autonomous driving are key trends for the future and will cause substantial changes in the way that the company works (story was from last week but not included in that review). (..)

Received coverage for its efforts to improve the user experience of car-sharing and reduce the time it takes to access a vehicle. (..)

Said that it has made adequate risk provisions for a fall in residual car values and was “well protected”. (..)

The USA (through the United States International Trade Commission -- USITC) said it will investigate whether patents owned by US companies have been infringed by plastic sub-components used by BMW and others. (..)

Said that in China its ChargeNow subsidiary would have a total of 2,500 chargers in 15 cities by the end of 2017, a 50% rate of growth. (..)

March

Said that in finalising any Brexit deal the UK government should “take the concerns of international business” into account including free trade, cross-border employment and consistent regulatory standards.

Said that its India plant had localisation levels of more than 50%

Released its latest sustainability report

Workers in the UK voted to go on strike in a dispute over their pensions -- BMW wants to close the final salary scheme for existing employees. The action involves 3,500 workers.